Landrum teen assaulted in home invasion

LANDRUM -- Police officers released a sketch Friday of a suspect in a home invasion that left a teenage girl with an injured hand and bruises.

Lt. Matthew McKee said such a crime is rare in the small northern Spartanburg County town.

"I've been here six years, and I don't recall anything like it," he said.

The victim worked this week with Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office artist Scott Thomas in developing a likeness to her attacker.

She told authorities she arrived home from school Monday afternoon, and someone knocked on the door.

The suspect referred to a sign in the yard and asked whether her house was for sale. When she told him it was, he asked to come inside and look around.

The girl, who was alone, let in the man she described as between 20 to 30 years old with a mustache, goatee and wearing a gray T-shirt and khaki pants.

She told police officers that she showed him through the house. When they reached the bedroom area in the back, he tried to assault her.

"He tried to put his hand over her mouth, and she raised her arm, trying to ward off a blow, and was injured. Her right hand, thumb, fingers," McKee said.

She also received a knot over her right eye before she was knocked to the floor.

The girl said the suspect turned and went toward the kitchen before exiting a side door, a report stated.

She did not see which way her assailant went, and she locked the door behind him.

Afterward, she went down the street for help, and the police and her parents were called.

The girl was treated for her injuries but was not transported by an ambulance that was called to the scene.

McKee said the suspect faces a charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. "Also kidnapping will be considered. By trying to put his hand over her mouth and confining her against her will, that's a very good possibility," he said.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call the Landrum Police Department at (864) 457-7281, Crime Stoppers in Spartanburg County at 582-7463 or Crime Stoppers in Polk County, N.C., at (800) 847-7119.